The Newcomer
by somethingdifferent
Summary: A newcomer's presence in Star's Hollow shakes things up--especially for Taylor and Jess
1. The Arrival

It was another quiet, normal day at Luke's. Which meant it was actually neither quiet nor normal, as Lorelai loudly argued with Luke over the health effects of her coffee and Kirk, having regained his once stolen trophy, proudly attempted to position "her" to her best advantage, all the while sending reflections of the morning light around the diner. This action of course excited all the resentment you could expect, since it was early, so people were grunting at him inarticulately, but enthusiastically.  
  
So no one noticed when a new customer entered and sat at the counter. She looked quietly around her with a quick, sardonic eye, and began to peruse a menu (does Luke's even have them?)  
  
Having quickly made a decision, she folded the menu. When she glanced up, she met Rory's eye and grinned. Lorelai had just convinced Luke to give them one last cup of coffee for the morning, and Rory was standing up to go catch the bus.  
  
Rory smiled back distractedly, and looked over her shoulder as Jess came down.  
  
Uncharacteristically, Jess was carrying a bookbag. Rory met him with a shy half-smile and pointing at it said, "Decided to accessorize this morning?"  
  
"Yeah, I decided I'd been a minimalist far after it had gone out of style, so my statement had either been made or was going completely unheard, both of which were pointless." Looking up, he realized that Lorelai and Luke had arrested their banter to stare at him with shocked expression. "Come on, I'm walk you to your bus," he added, avoiding their looks.  
  
After they left, Luke and Lorelai just exchanged a confused gape, and suddenly became aware of the tasks in which they were supposed to be engaged. Luke turned his attention to the girl at the counter as Lorelai grabbed her purse and headed out the door.  
  
"What can I get ya?" Luke asked her.  
  
*****************************  
  
Perhaps now would be a good moment to describe Eliza, for that was her name. She was mid-twenties, of a slight, athletic build, with neatly bobbed brown hair. Her big brown eyes danced in her heart-shaped face, varying between cold satiricism and warm empathy, with a perceptive quality that belied her age. Her hands were long, thin, and graceful. She dressed with a quiet flare-bold colors, simple lines. Today, she wore a bright red ribbed sweater, brown slacks, and red shoes.  
  
So much for our description.  
  
******************************  
  
Luke had never exhibited either a curious or a creative talent (apparently, he hadn't even been creative enough to form trysts in high school, considering his shock that Jess and Rory would), so he was relatively unperturbed by the appearance of this newcomer. She hung around much of the day, contentedly reading. She left before the afternoon rush, wandering around town without really being noticed. But her appearance at the town meeting that night created a stir.  
  
There were whispers and stares. Miss Patty directly addressed her with many curious questions, to which polite and slyly evasive answers were given.  
  
Taylor of course called the meeting to order exactly on time. As he began his first order of business, congratulations about the success of the Dance Marathon, Lorelai and Rory came in, Lorelai complaining loudly about her feet.  
  
Taylor sighed. "Lorelai, if you can't get here on time, at least you can come in quietly and not disturb the schedule."  
  
Lorelai smiled. "But Taylor, when I tried to get on the schedule, you denied me time."  
  
"Giving you time to complain about the ridiculous shoes you wore to the dance marathon and how much they hurt your feet would be a waste, Lorelai."  
  
"But you already have."  
  
Taylor looked appalled and quickly returned to his minutes. The meeting was punctuated by the usual kinds of episodes, with Taylor insisting that he remain supreme controller of all events and vying with Lorelai to be the pivot of all conversation.  
  
Towards the end, he welcomed newcomers and looked pointedly at Eliza. She arched her eyebrows at him, inclined her head politely to the town in response to the recognition, and declined to speak. In fact, even as she was cornered by townspeople after the meeting adjourned, she was evasive regarding her particulars.  
  
But she quickly followed Taylor.  
  
Lorelai noticed. She nudged Rory, who nodded. Rory turned to Jess, who had sat with them, and said, "I'll see you at the diner later." Then, they followed Eliza.  
  
She made her feet slap the pavement, in contrast to her usual quiet pace, in order to attract Taylor's attention. He of course turned around in annoyance. Lorelai and Rory halted in the background.  
  
"Look, young lady, attending our town meeting without participating in it is rude enough, but disturbing the peace afterwards is unacceptable."  
  
The girl drew herself up quietly and smiled. "Taylor, you are the most OCD individual I have ever met, and that's an achievement. In fact, I'd like to study you. I think you'd make an interesting subject."  
  
"OCD? I am not obsessive compulsive. You don't even know me."  
  
"Taylor." There was just a hint of firmness to it, like the girl was pushing him to listen to her.  
  
He looked at her sharply. "I'm not going to stand here all night listening to this. I have things to do in the morning, and I need to go to bed." Then, something seemed to grab his memory. "Study me? Who are you?"  
  
"You don't remember, do you? But you're exactly the way Mom described." There was an aggressive kindness to this comment, like she was driving herself to do something that she knew would cause pain, and over which she was insecure herself, but which she was adamantly determined to do nonetheless.  
  
Taylor's jaw dropped. She had hit her mark. "Elizabeth?"  
  
Lorelai and Rory beat a hasty retreat to Luke's. 


	2. Mystery solved, but unresolved

I didn't say this last chapter, but in case anyone's confused about the issue, I do not own any of the characters, sauf Eliza.  
  
***********************  
  
At the diner, Jess closed his book and looked up expectantly.  
  
Rory nodded, and Lorelai interjected seriously, "Come, sit, Jess."  
  
Since the diner was basically empty, Luke made no objection.  
  
Jess slid into the seat next to Rory. "So."  
  
"So." Rory mimicked noncommittally.  
  
"Did anything interesting happen?"  
  
Lorelai and Rory exchanged uncomfortable glances, and Rory furrowed her eyebrows.  
  
"I don't know that we're supposed to know anything about what happened."  
  
"Yeah, it was really weird. She's definitely interesting, and not just because she bugs Taylor, but it kinds felt like we walked in on something private," Lorelai added.  
  
"There's a town mystery involving Taylor?" Jess said incredulously. "The only thing remotely intriguing about him is how he got to be such a pompous self-righteous jerk." He looked back and forth between Lorelai and Rory, not totally at ease with how to talk to both of them together. Or course, neither Rory nor Lorelai were completely comfortable, either. But they were spared further musings on how they would companionably keep the conversation going by the entrance of Eliza.  
  
Everyone looked up at her, curious. Before they could withdraw their looks in guilt of objectifying her newness and strangeness, she directed her open face towards them.  
  
"Sorry to disrupt your tete-a-tete," she said expectantly.  
  
"Not at all," said Lorelai. As if remembering herself while gesturing to the empty diner, "Would you like to join us? We'll provide much better conversation than Luke will if you sit at the counter."  
  
Luke rolled his eyes. Eliza paused, and accepted. She moved towards the empty seat while apologetically introducing herself. "I'm Eliza. I'm sure you thought I was being horribly strange and unsociable earlier." She paused and cut a wicked grin at Rory and Lorelai, all the while somehow assuming Jess into an "outsider in-group" she had established for herself. "But I saw you were active in scoping out the mystery in which I had shrouded myself, and therefore, I believe, ended up with more questions than you had when you started?"  
  
Lorelai and Rory ducked guiltily and started to say something about accidentally overhearing part of her interaction with Taylor. Jess was simply staring hard at Eliza.  
  
"It's okay," she hastily continued. "This is a small community, and I knew nothing went unnoticed here before I came back."  
  
Luke had walked over to refill coffee and take Eliza's order. Everyone did a double-take at Eliza's admission. "Back?" Rory voiced it.  
  
"Yeah. Although I left when I was too young to remember anything-" she broke off pensively. "No, I officially know nothing about any of you- you're too young for my mother to have been able to tell me about you. So you're safe!" She ended with an inclusive smile.  
  
"Good. We wouldn't have wanted our eccentricities to have proceeded us," Lorelai said encouragingly.  
  
"No, not at all. In any case, I'm here for a while now."  
  
"What have you come to do?"  
  
"I'm actually taking a bit of a break from my PhD program. I felt like my research wasn't new, wasn't ingenuous, wasn't contributing anything worthwhile to the extant body of human knowledge," she said passionately, "And since I'd never really known where I grew up, and I wanted a bit of peace, I decided to come home for a bit. I'm going to teach English. One of the English teachers at Star's Hollow High all of a sudden decided to retire, and I offered to replace her even before the end of the term."  
  
"Oh. That's great," Lorelai said.  
  
They suddenly realized Luke had been waiting a long time for recognition. She placed her order and they all fell into easy conversation.  
  
******************************  
  
Walking home, Lorelai and Rory discussed the newcomer. "She seems great."  
  
"Yeah. And she's read so much great stuff."  
  
"Rory, she's going to be an English teacher."  
  
"At a public high school. Plus, how many people are really that passionate about educating. She might even be as good as some of my teachers at Chilton." There was a moment where both knew they were thinking of Mr. Medena, and then they continued.  
  
"Hey, did you realize, she made it sound like she was going to tell us about what happened with Taylor, but she never did? Oooh, tricky!" Lorelai's eyes glittered.  
  
"Mom, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to tease the mystery out of her later. The conversation just took a turn and it never came up again."  
  
"You're just too young to know about that thing."  
  
"What thing?"  
  
"That thing that older people do."  
  
"When." Rory prompted.  
  
"When they want to keep the conversation from something they don't want to talk about. You see, they start out by apologizing for something obvious, then making it your fault, then excusing you, and transitioning the excuse into something they're more comfortable talking about."  
  
"I hardly think she was trying that hard."  
  
"No, it was a classic. She's good-think about it. 'I must have seemed strange.you followed me.it's okay. I'm happy to be in this small community.'" Lorelai pantomimed Eliza's hand gestures.  
  
"Wow," Rory said, only vaguely skeptically.  
  
"Yeah. But did you notice how I surreptitiously got her information when I asked her to lunch later this week?"  
  
"Surreptitious. Good word."  
  
"Yeah, and better, since I know her last name, I can ask around town about her."  
  
*****************************  
  
"So." Lane slid into her seat at Luke's as she picked up Rory's hamburger and stuffed it into her mouth. "What's new?"  
  
Lorelai hunkered down, giving her a sideways grin.  
  
"Yeah, Mom, what did you find out today?" Rory had just returned from the counter where she had been flirting with Jess.  
  
"Well," Lorelai paused dramatically. "Taylor has a kid."  
  
Lane swallowed hard and blinked in astonishment. Rory's eyes grew wide. "I had considered something like that after what we overheard, but.it just seemed too bizarre and out of character."  
  
"Yeah, I wasn't quite sure what to think, either. And she just seems way too.cool and well-adjusted to be Taylor's kid."  
  
"Whoa. Wait a second. Fill me in here, please?" Lane interjected.  
  
Lorelai and Rory relayed the events of the previous evening to Lane. Then, Rory sat back reflectively. "So Taylor has a love-child?"  
  
"No, he was married. Apparently, they got married really young, and as she grew up within the marriage, she realized that he was really crazy. They'd already had Eliza, but she didn't want her growing up in such a stilted environment. So she divorced Taylor and left, taking Eliza with her. She hasn't been heard from since," Lorelai finished with a flourish.  
  
"Wow. Taylor being forced to live in a situation completely devoid of picket fences, two and a half kids, and unicorns on all the ice cream parlor signs. It's amazing he survived." Lane stuffed the last bit of hamburger into her mouth, glanced at her watch, and smoothly transitioned, "Gotta go."  
  
"Bye!" both Gilmores called after her.  
  
******************************  
  
Rory and Jess met down at the bridge later that night. In between flirting and making out, which of course were fun and distracting, she told him about Eliza.  
  
"She's my new English teacher," he replied.  
  
"Oh." Pause. "So will your attendance improve?"  
  
"Depends."  
  
"On what?"  
  
"Rory, how many teachers have you had who actually taught you anything about what you read?"  
  
She thought about it. Before she answered, he added, "And my school's not even as good as yours."  
  
"Okay, new subject," and she leaned in for a kiss.  
  
"I definitely prefer this one," he reciprocated. 


	3. Settling In

Lorelai and Eliza met for lunch later that week as they'd planned. Actually, Eliza proposed they meet at the gazebo and decide what they were in the mood for there.  
  
When Lorelai got to the gazebo, Eliza was waiting, smiling into the sunshine that softly lit the square. She expected them to make a quick decision and run off, so she was a bit surprised when Eliza caught her arm and asked to sit for a minute.  
  
"Sure," she furrowed her brows.  
  
The younger woman looked slightly apologetic. "Lorelai, I've been thinking. I thought I was totally cool with coming back here, but I'm starting to realize I'm not completely secure. And I think that's why I was doing that "push-pull" thing with you guys at the diner the other night, and I am sorry for being so evasive and weird," she sighed. "And, like I said, I know small towns are full of gossip. And not only do I make a good target right now, but I've given you lots of time to aim."  
  
Lorelai looked a bit guilty as Eliza looked penetratingly at her.  
  
"I read people really well, but I don't read minds. So I know you've been 'researching' me, but I don't know what you know about me now, and that's kind of making me particularly anxious. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I think you're really cool and God knows I'd adore having a girlfriend like you here, and I both want you to be able to ask me what you want to know about me, and also feel secure in knowing I'm not a part of your gossip mill. Does that make any sense?"  
  
Lorelai looked at her with admiration. "Yeah, and I think I can do that."  
  
"Good. That's all the 'serious stuff' I needed to do today," Eliza said as she stood. Then, she cut her eyes in what Lorelai was learning was a characteristic way. "I've noticed Taylor's been a bit.scarce.since I've been here. What do you say we go to Doose's and then to my place to make lunch?"  
  
Lorelai smiled conspiratorily, if with some reservations over getting into this strange father-daughter thing, and they headed to Doose's.  
  
*******************************  
  
Lorelai giggled as Eliza set a bag of groceries down to wipe a tear from her laughing eyes and fool with the lock on the door.  
  
"I don't know that I've ever seen anything so funny as Taylor trying to hide in his store while still serving customers," Lorelai commented.  
  
"Yeah, he's kind of a big man to duck under the counter every time I caught his eye. At least he got his exercise today," Eliza concurred, opening the door with a flourish and rescuing the bag from the floor.  
  
They stepped into a large living room with enormous windows. At the end of the room that had tiled flooring, there was an assortment of furniture in various states of disrepair, papers, fabrics, and paints. The rest contained bookshelves between the windows, and a sofa and a few chairs arranged conversationally around a tea table. The room opened on the kitchen, where Eliza and Lorelai headed.  
  
Eliza started pulling vegetables out of a bag and washing them. She started some noodles boiling and asked Lorelai to cut some vegetables while she took care of others.  
  
"Okay, Eliza. I know Taylor's your father and that you and your mom left when you were very young. But I don't know much else. So, what exactly do you want out of being here?"  
  
Eliza pursed her lips. "Honestly, I'm not sure. I mean, I was being honest about taking a break from my PhD program and everything. And I'm excited about teaching. But as far as Taylor's concerned.it just became important to me to know who he was. I guess I can't pull too many pranks to discomfit him, because he won't let me get to know him at all if I do. But," she hesitated. "He is just so anal, and loves control so much, I don't know that I'll be able to help it. I guess I'll just have to wing it. That's always worked for me before."  
  
Lorelai felt like she'd only scratched the surface of Eliza's thinking, but decided not to push it. After all, the girl had already admitted to some insecurities; it was better to let her get comfortable before trying to get deep confidences out of her. So they had a nice lunch, and Lorelai made a mental note to tell Luke how healthy she had been. No meat, and no caffeine. But surprisingly good.  
  
*******************************  
  
Eliza sat at the counter at Luke's. She'd been there reading for a while when Jess came downstairs and began work. On his arrival, she began thoughtfully staring at him.  
  
After a bit, he said, "Can I do something for you, Miss Green?"  
  
She smiled sarcastically and said, "You'll learn never to give me an opening like that. Yes, Mr. Mariano, you can do something for me. Please, never call me Miss Green outside of school."  
  
"Okay," and Jess moved to continue his work.  
  
"Jess," she stopped him. "I have a theory about teaching."  
  
"Oh," he said disinterestedly.  
  
"Yeah. See, I think boys-men-are inherently unteachable."  
  
He raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Then why do you try?"  
  
"Well, actually, I know you're going to be shocked by this admission, but that's what I wanted to talk to you about. I know you just got on, but can you take a break?"  
  
He thought about it a second before she said, "Or else I'll enforce the detentions you've earned by skipping my class." Luke overheard this last, and she enlisted his aid. "Luke, you don't mind if Jess and I do some schoolwork, do you?" She motioned Jess to a corner table while removing a book from her purse.  
  
"See Jess," she said unconcernedly to his sullen face, "I think boys dislike authority, except those that they impose upon themselves. So I've got a deal for you. You're required by law to attend my class, which you will do." Her firmness brooked no opposition. "However, I think you're bright, so I'd like the opportunity to convince you that being in my class is an ethical thing to do. As such, I will teach you to educate yourself."  
  
The look in his eyes declared he was pretty confident he could take care of that himself.  
  
"You're a good reader, Jess. But your reading, however good, is still limited. Mine's limited, and I have several years' head start and no image to maintain." He looked away, wavering. "Look, I'm young, and I will make mistakes in attempting to interact with you. But I think you have great potential. Unfortunately, you've been trying to convince a lot of people you didn't have any for a while, and now.your college prospects aren't nearly as strong as they could be. If you and I work really hard together, they might be significantly enhanced. Especially since I know people at a few nearby universities."  
  
She suddenly thought of something. "I'm sorry, I'm projecting. I assumed you'd want to go to a good school, out of pride, out of wanting Rory to be proud of you, out of having a thirst to learn and knowing that good schools are where the good teachers lurk, and good teachers are the ones who can tell you which ideas are worth pursuing. What do you want?"  
  
Jess was overwhelmed at this point. He had no idea how to respond, so he shrugged noncommittally.  
  
"Okay, I've started off too fast. How about this-"she pushed the book at him "-read this. There is only one rule: you can only ask me questions about it. I'm not accepting ranting, half-thought-out rebuttals from an underachieving yet intellectually snobby seventeen-year-old of something that has informed Western thought for 2500 years."  
  
She went to the counter to pay for her tea as Jess turned over the copy of Plato's Republic in his hands. 


End file.
